


Family + Past + Files

by kat_atthewisco



Series: Sergeant+Rescue+New Friend [15]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Description of serious injury, Gen, Jack is such a dad, Language I think?, but there’s also a very sweet moment between jack and reena, kinda grisly bc it’s about how Reena lost her leg, so please beware
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-14
Updated: 2019-07-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 09:46:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19809751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kat_atthewisco/pseuds/kat_atthewisco
Summary: At work, the team is digging into Mac and Reena’s pasts, trying to find out what Reena is either being targeted for or getting in the way of Mac being targeted for. Unfortunately, going through someone’s past means going through everything that’s happened to them. Including the bad and the ugly.Or, Jack and Mac (and Matty, silently) really realize just how much Reena means to them.





	Family + Past + Files

**Author's Note:**

> Hey friends! This is kind of a heavy chapter and it’s got some mildly graphic depictions of serious injury (i.e. traumatic amputation) so please beware of that.   
> Enjoy, y’all!

THE BACK DECK   
FINALLY AT HOME AS A FAMILY

“I mean, I really don’t remember much of anything after about half of his explanation of the security in the front lobby.” Reena was telling us. “I do seem to remember Mac’s voice though, because I’ve never heard him sound that panicked, ever. Maybe when I got shot, but I was _really_ foggy that time.” 

“Why do you people insist on bringing this up?” Jack asked, clearly very exasperated. “If I have to relive the last few days any more I might lose my shit.” Reena chuckled. 

“Here’s to me being back at home where I belong.” she said, holding her beer up in her right hand. Jack and I grinned, each bumping one of her shoulders with one of ours. 

“I will certainly drink to that.” Jack held up his bottle and clinked it against Reena’s, Matty, Bozer, and myself following suit. 

“Guys, I, uh,” Reena started, “I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked you for everything you’ve done for me.” she said, almost shyly. “Since the day you rescued me, you’ve taken me in and treated me like family, and I am eternally grateful for all of you.” She took a deep breath, smiling as Jack wrapped an arm around her, tucking her neatly into his side. “I know I jokingly say that Mac’s my brother and Jack’s my dad, but somewhere along the line, it wasn’t really a joke anymore.” I chuckled. “So, Matty, if I ever call you mom, I am so sorry, but it probably just slipped out.” That even made Matty chuckle. “Ri, Bozer, I hope you two know that you are absolutely siblings to me.” 

“Ree, I’m not really sure I know what to say.” Bozer said, sniffing. Riley was a little misty-eyed and even Matty looked a little emotional. 

“Come on, family hug.” Jack said, motioning for all of us to move in. Even Matty obliged, a smile on her face, as we all converged around Reena, wrapping her and each other into a warm hug. 

BACK IN THE WAR ROOM  
I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER SEEN ANYONE AS EAGER TO BE BACK AT WORK AS REENA

“Well, to nobody’s surprise, today’s investigation centers around Reena.” Matty said. “Her being shot and drugged by people within the same organization cannot be a coincidence and I intend to get to the bottom of it all.” 

“We should be looking into Mac, too.” Reena pointed out. “He’s the only other common factor. And he was given a drink he didn’t ask for, that can’t be nothing.” Matty nodded. 

“Already on that, but it’s good to see someone else is up to speed.” she said. “Reena, you’ll help look into Mac with Riley and Bozer, and Jack, Mac, and I will look into Reena.” 

“Why are we not looking at ourselves?” Reena asked, voicing my own thoughts. Matty leveled her with the same determined look she’d had on her face the entire time Reena had been in the hospital, only breaking to show her gentler side when Reena was awake for five or ten minute intervals. 

“It’s easier to sift through someone’s past when you didn’t live through it. You can be more objective.” she said. “No passing over things because you don’t think it’s significant, no overlooking things because you think you remember what happened. If someone else looks into your life, it definitely isn’t a good feeling, but it gets all the details.” Reena nodded. 

“I feel weird looking into someone else’s entire life.” she said quietly. “I don’t like this.” I shifted myself closer to Reena and pulled her into my side in a tight hug. Reena leaned into the contact. 

“Riley, Bozer, and Reena, you three will be across the hall and Mac, Jack, and I will be in here. I have all the files ready and waiting, and you have clearance for anything you’ll need.” We all gave Matty a short nod and I watched as Reena followed Riley and Bozer out of the room. “Alright, guys, all of Reena’s files are on the table there, and I have electronic records that have also been sent to all of you. There are some video files we’ll review after you’ve had a chance to at least skim most of her files.” 

“Kid’s got a lot of files for being 26.” Jack said, grabbing the top few off the stack. I nodded, grabbing a few files of my own. 

“Even I didn’t have this many then.” I said. Jack chuckled. 

“Kid, that was only about four years ago for you. You’re getting close by now.” I smiled to myself, opening one of the files I’d selected. 

“Great, I got one of the boring ones.” I muttered. As an EOD tech, you have to write up a mission report each time you go out in the field. A lot of those end up being false alarms or simple, easy to dismantle, or incorrectly made explosives. I’d picked up a mission report of a false alarm. 

“I, uh, I’ll trade ya.” Jack said. He sounded upset, and when I looked over at him, he was visibly disturbed. “I got medical records and the mission report of the mission that took Ree’s leg.” 

“Oh, man.” was all I could think to say. I’d only known Reena to have one leg. It was how things were. But to be confronted with the fact that she had, indeed, lost it in an accident, was upsetting, to say the least. 

“Think they’ve found the Cairo reports yet?” Jack asked. 

“I’m sure I’ll find out tonight.” I said. “It’s bonfire night so someone’s bound to bring it up.” Jack smiled sadly. “Set that there so I can read it, okay?” I said. “Not that I want to, but knowing what happened is bound to come in handy some night.” Jack nodded, and the two of us went back to our reports. 

“You two about done?” Matty asked probably an hour later. 

“I got about another paragraph of this report.” Jack said as I set down the last report I had to read. When Jack set the one he was reading down, Matty pulled up some video files on the screens. 

“You’re gonna want to brace yourselves, boys.” Matty said. “This is body cam footage from Reena and her team in the sandbox from the mission that she lost a leg on.” I took a deep breath and Jack closed his eyes for a moment. Matty hit play and we immediately were greeted by the familiar sound of mission chatter. 

_”Guys, are you really gonna keep arguing about this?”_

It was Reena. 

_”Ryder, you really don’t know us very well. Of course we’re gonna keep-“_

_”Guys, shut up. I’ve got an IED ahead and it looks like there’s another device near it.”_

Jack and I glanced at each other. Of course Reena would’ve been the one to see it. We heard tires screech as their humvee screeched to a halt and then rustling and rattling sounds as Reena and her unit unloaded to investigate. 

Reena was in the lead, and I was on the edge of my seat, muscles coiled. 

_”Guys, back, there’s a proximity sens-“_

The _boom_ of the explosion made Jack and I jump. It was a sound I knew all too well, and I could tell Jack was fighting as hard as I was to quell panic rising in his chest. 

At that point, it switched to another soldier’s body cam, Reena’s feed having gone completely white as soon as the explosion went off. 

_”Fuckin’ hell! Everybody sound off! Ryder starts!”_

Silence for a moment, and then others yelled out ranks and last names. 

_”Has anyone got eyes on Ryder?”_

_”There, she’s over there!”_

_”Shit! Ryder, can you hear me?”_

There wasn’t much talking after that, and what there was was so jumbled together a lot of it was unintelligible. Reena’s overwatch and the member of the team with the most seniority rushed to Reena’s side, while another member radioed the situation back to base. The rest of the team hung back, staying as close to Reena as they could. The man whose body cam we were watching was apparently the most senior member of the team, so we got up close footage of the destruction the explosive had done to Reena’s body. She was pretty badly burnt in places, and her right leg was almost completely gone. What was still there was a mess of blood and torn skin. 

“Turn it off.” Jack said. “Off, please.” Matty nodded, swiping the video off the screens. I didn’t realize how tense my entire body had become until the video was gone and I let myself relax. “Be right back.” Jack muttered, pushing himself off the couch. Matty sent me a look and I followed, giving Jack a little space. 

As I had predicted, Jack didn’t go far. He walked across the hall and into the room Reena, Bozer, and Riley were in. He didn’t bother to close the door behind him and I leaned against the door frame. 

“Jack, what are you- _oof_ ” Reena grunted as she stood up to meet Jack and was greeted by a bear hug that about ripped her off her feet. She didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around Jack’s shoulders. “Guess you found the report from the bomb that got me.” she said. Jack nodded. 

“Saw the footage til I made Matty turn it off.” Jack said, then pulled away, catching Reena’s biceps in his hands. “Kid, your leg looked like ground beef.” Jack looked more distraught than I’d seen in a long while. 

“Hey, that was six years ago.” Reena said gently. “I’m okay.” she promised, one hand gently on Jack’s cheek. “Hey, it’s bonfire night, and Mac and I can finally drink. Wanna talk about it later?” Jack nodded. “I have something I wanted to ask you two about, too.” 

“Cairo?” I guessed. Reena nodded. I smiled sadly. “Jack, why don’t we get back to work so we can swap horror stories later?” Jack nodded, reluctantly pulling away from Reena. I walked over and squeezed Reena in a quick hug, planting a kiss on top of her head. “We’ll see ya later, tough kid.”


End file.
